Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a mechanism for improving the safety of lifts.
Description of the Related Art
Lifts transport people and goods from place to place, usually in a vertical direction. Safety has always been a major concern due to the catastrophic consequences of a failure in a lift. One of the major contributors to the commercialization of passenger lifts was the invention by Elisha Otis in 1852 of a practical safety mechanism for passenger lifts.
A number of different safety mechanisms are known. For example, DE19833772 discloses two locking bars arranged below a passenger car of a lift. The locking bars are kept in a retracted position by a load cable so that when the load cable snaps the locking bars extend to engage with rungs situated in the hoistway. The rungs may rupture to provide a breaking force.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,703 discloses a safety mechanism for a lift which includes brake pads which may be brought into engagement with braces. To provide additional braking power, the pads are provided with protrusions which engage with corrugations, flattening these corrugations as the protrusions pass thereover.